An embodiment relates generally to evaluating a cranking capability of a vehicle starting system.
Vehicle batteries are used for conventional functions such as starting, lighting, and ignition within a vehicle. The vehicle battery must satisfy the power needs of all the electronics associated with those functions. Many vehicle breakdowns are related to automotive electronic and battery failures such as the vehicle battery being in a low state of charge during vehicle starting. The vehicle starting system includes the battery, the starter motor, and the engine. To successfully crank the vehicle engine, the electrical power supply provided by the battery must be able to supply an adequate amount of power to the starter motor for cranking the engine. The power must not only be able to successfully initiate cranking of the starter and engine, but must be able to overcome the frictional and resistive interactions of the accessories coupling the starter motor and the engine.
The state of function (SOF) for a starting system is a comprehensive reflection of a starting system's state of health (SOH) and state of charge (SOC). The SOF provides important information regarding the cranking capability of the starting system. What is needed is a method for evaluating the SOF for the starting system for determining the cranking capability of the vehicle starting system.